It had been three days since I had left the remains of our town. I had been traveling the barren wasteland that was once my home. As I traveled I had soon learnt that the invaders had done so much more damage than I had previously thought. They didn’t just slaughter our people. They burnt down the forests, they blocked up the rivers, and they scorched the earth, killing almost all of the native wildlife. How could so few have caused so much damage?
I traversed the burnt forest with the child nestled firmly on my back. He had not awoken since I had found him. Occasionally he would grunt or move around on my back but that was as far as he went. I was stopped abruptly by a rock face. We had reached the end of our lands. Beyond this was the land of the Gryphons. Night would fall soon so now would be the best time to start searching for shelter. I traced my way along the rock face looking for a cave or alcove or something that would protect us from the elements. I didn’t have to worry about any animals in particular anymore. With the landscape so ruined no animals would remain around these areas for long. I stopped at a small series of cracks in the cliff face. I traced my talon along the cracks and noticed that there was a slight draft behind this wall. I knew that this meant there was a cave system or at least a passageway behind the wall. I searched the immediate area for a means to break the wall open so we could rest. There were only a few charred logs nearby so I grabbed a smaller one and smashed it against the wall. There was a ringing sound but the wall remained intact. The sun was about to set and we did not have any form of shelter.
Trying my best to provide what I could for the child I began to set to work building him a small tent like construction. I laid him and the food down near the wall and began searching for strong bits of wood that had survived the fire. I found a few pieces when I heard and earth shattering splitting sound followed by a loud rumble. The sound had originated from where I had left the child. Dropping the wood I ran back to the child. I arrived to see a strange sight in front of me. The child was awake…and standing in front of the once whole wall that blocked our way. I did not know what to say. This child had managed to break that wall that I could not? How had he done it?
The child beckoned me to follow him and casually walked into the now exposed tunnel. I did as instructed and followed the child inside as I entered the cave I found the boy sitting next to one of the walls and happily eating the last of our bread. I knew that he needed it more than I did but to ransack the food supply without any thought? Just what was this kid thinking?
I took a seat next to the kid and slowly began to think about all the events that had occurred. I closed my eyes only to see the town again. I saw people screaming and being massacred before my eyes, the town burning…and the explosion. I opened my eyes to see the boy standing in front of me with his head cocked to the side trying to work out what I was doing. It was then that I decided I would talk to him…for the first time.
“Yes?” I said “Is there something you want?”
“Yep, more food please” he replied
“I’m sorry but we don’t have any more food. That was the last we had”
“Then why don’t you make some more food?”
“Because that’s not my job to make food. I record and write history so that others may learn from our mistakes”
“Well that’s silly if you’re hungry what’s wrong with making food?”
The child had a point. It was my job to record history…but does that truly mean that I can only do that? Well there is only one way to find out
“Alright I’ll try but don’t be too disappointed if I fail alright?”
“Ok old man”
With that I stood up. I looked at the crumbs of bread that were left from the boys meal. I remembered that it was made of water, flour and yeast. I drew water from the air, yeast from the remains of the bread, which I then willed to grow. Finally I drew the seeds from the ground and ground them into a powder to make flour. Mixing these ingredients I slowly increased the temperature of the mix and it slowly began to rise. After about fifteen minutes we had a stange spherical loaf of bread. The boy applauded and cheered as I stood there in shock. I had actually made something using my will…how. Society always told us that you could only produce things that you were suited to when you matured into an adult. Was that all a lie? Could we actually make anything we wanted so long as we knew how it was produced? I must experiment some more with this new found knowledge.
“Thanks old man it’s really yummy” called the boy
“You’re welcome” I called back, taking a piece for myself. It actually was quite delicious. It tasted like it had just come out of the oven and was still warm too.
“Told you that you could make it” said the boy
“Yes you did, didn’t you…how did you know?”
“That’s because I do it all the time. My favorite ones are cotton candy and chocolate milk. There the yummiest”
“They are quite good aren’t they?”
“Yep”
“So what’s your title anyway?” I asked
“What’s a title?”
“It’s what you’re good at. They name you after your talent as you grow up”
“That’s silly, what if I don’t like my title”
“Well it’s something that you will like because it’s what your good at”
“Not true what if I become a dentist? I like cotton candy and chocolate but if I’m a dentist then I can’t eat them any more right?”
“I suppose that’s true…”
“Then I don’t want one of those titles”
“fine then ill just call you discord”
“Why discord?”
“Because you like to disagree with others and don’t accept anything you don’t like”
“Cool”
“You’re a very strange child you know that?”
“Yep…so what’s your title then old man?”
“Me? Well I’m called the Biographer of Time”
“That’s too long I’m just going to call you Old Man Time from now on”
I thought of this name that he gave me…I suppose it would be easier to explain to people who I was with a name not a title…alright then I suppose ill let the boy have his way
“Ok, you can call me Old Man Time if you want”
“Awesome…but I was going to call you that anyway”
“Yes Discord I know you were”
“I’m bored now can we leave?”
“No discord we need to sleep first then we can leave in the morning”
“Fine but I get more food in the morning alright?”
“Alright now please go to sleep”
And with that, the boy named Discord and I began a journey together that would change the very world itself